About 6,000 people call Ben Lomond "home." Located only about 15 minutes to either Scotts Valley or Santa Cruz, residents live amongst the relaxed atmosphere of a scenic mountain village with all the benefits of two easily accessible cities.

The downtown area features several restaurants, including the newest: Casa Nostra. The food is Italian with a lovely presentation - the outdoor seating was perfect on a recent September visit. The Tyrolean Inn serves traditional German and Bavarian food and on Fridays usually has a wild game special. Spanky's is a great breakfast/lunch spot, and Coffee 9 serves up a tasty breakfast burrito as well as everything else you'd expect.

Ben Lomond Market is a delightful gourmand grocery, with a beautiful assortment of fresh sushi, a hot Chinese and Mexican buffet, fresh salad bar at $7.99/lb, and tasty ready to go dinners.

Ben Lomond offers a post office and gas station, the Mountain Art Center which offers local handmade art and gifts, rotating shows at it's gallery, and a plethora of classes from ceramics through painting and life drawing. There's an antique store, hardware and lumber store, fire department, and a widely known local bar with food and music- Henflings. There's even live theater at the Park Hall, and a nice park alongside the San Lorenzo River.

There are two plant nurseries - The Plant Works has a variety of 6 pack annuals all the way to trees, while Mountain Feed and Farm Supply has everything you'd expect from the name, plus a fabulous collection of hard to find and healthy plants. Their merchandising is so beautiful and staff so knowledgeable that it's always a pleasure to shop there.

The topography of Ben Lomond is a delightful mix of hills covered in redwood forests and gently rolling oak savannahs, interspersed with ponderosa pine, bay, and madrone trees. Parts of the unincorporated town feature a rare habitat known as the Zayante Sand hills: a former seabed forced to the surface eons ago, generating flora and fauna both endangered and unique in the world.

The history of the town's name dates back to a Scottsman who named his mountain "Ben Lomond;" similarly the nearby reservoir is named "Loch Lomond," providing a place to canoe, paddle boat, fish and relax.

Highland Park has a sports field, Senior Center, tennis courts, and skateboarding facilities. It's nestled between Highway 9 which winds through the San Lorenzo Valley, and the San Lorenzo River: there is river access and picnic areas, plus a park where children can play. The other major county park is Quail Hollow, originally the ranch of the owners of the Sunset magazine, which popularized California outdoor lifestyle. Now the ranch house is available for rental for events, while the center also offers interpretive programs and the park itself is intertwined with stunning hiking trails.

Housing in Ben Lomond ranges from small cabins perched high in the redwood hills with prices starting around $400,000, all the way up to mini estates and horse ranches on acreage, priced in the seven figure range.

In 2015, the average Ben Lomond real estate price was $625,000, up solidly from the average Ben Lomond home price of 542,598 in 2014, which was also about 20% higher than 2013.

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The data relating to real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of the MLSListingsTM MLS system. Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Century 21 are marked with the Internet Data Exchange icon (a stylized house inside a circle) and detailed information about them includes the names of the listing brokers and listing agents.